Tusker to be shot after it trampled four people in Bengal

Purulia, May 21 (UNI) A wildtusker was declared rogue after it trampled to death four people at Joypur block near here today, official sources said.

Purulia's Divisional Forest Officer K Balamurugon said a herd of four rampageous elephants from Bokaro forest in Jharkhand had entered two adjacent villages and started attacking people at the wee hours.

The injured started screaming which alarmed the neighbours and they managed to drive away the three pachyderms, but the bull elephant refused to leave.

Later, armed forest guards arrived at the site and cordoned off the area.

Balamurugom said sharp shooter Debabrata Palchoudhury in Kolkata was contacted to shoot down the tusker, which was declared rogue after killing four people, three of them of a same family.

Local people protested over the man-animal conflict and demanded compensation for bereaved families.